Conspicuity of suspicious breast lesions on contrast enhanced breast CT compared to digital breast tomosynthesis and mammography.

Objective: Compare conspicuity of suspicious breast lesions on contrast-enhanced dedicated breast CT (CEbCT), tomosynthesis (DBT) and digital mammography (DM).

Methods: 100 females with BI-RADS 4/5 lesions underwent CEbCT and/or DBT prior to biopsy in this IRB approved, HIPAA compliant study. Two breast radiologists adjudicated lesion conspicuity scores (CS) for each modality independently.

Impact of Breast Density Legislation on Breast Cancer Risk Assessment and Supplemental Screening: A Survey of 110 Radiology Facilities.

Breast density notification laws, passed in 19 states as of October 2014, mandate that patients be informed of their breast density. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of this legislation on radiology practices, including performance of breast cancer risk assessment and supplemental screening studies. A 20-question anonymous web-based survey was emailed to radiologists in the Society of Breast Imaging between August 2013 and March 2014.

Differentiation of ductal carcinoma in-situ from benign micro-calcifications by dedicated breast computed tomography.

Purpose: Compare conspicuity of ductal carcinoma in-situ (DCIS) to benign calcifications on unenhanced (bCT), contrast-enhanced dedicated breast CT (CEbCT) and mammography (DM).

Methods And Materials: The institutional review board approved this HIPAA-compliant study. 42 women with Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System 4 or 5 category micro-calcifications had breast CT before biopsy.

Local curvature analysis for classifying breast tumors: Preliminary analysis in dedicated breast CT.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to measure the effectiveness of local curvature measures as novel image features for classifying breast tumors.

Methods: A total of 119 breast lesions from 104 noncontrast dedicated breast computed tomography images of women were used in this study. Volumetric segmentation was done using a seed-based segmentation algorithm and then a triangulated surface was extracted from the resulting segmentation.

Impact of lesion segmentation metrics on computer-aided diagnosis/detection in breast computed tomography.

Evaluation of segmentation algorithms usually involves comparisons of segmentations to gold-standard delineations without regard to the ultimate medical decision-making task. We compare two segmentation evaluations methods-a Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) evaluation and a diagnostic classification task-based evaluation method using lesions from breast computed tomography. In our investigation, we use results from two previously developed lesion-segmentation algorithms [a global active contour model (GAC) and a global with local aspects active contour model].

Impact of the California breast density law on primary care physicians.

Purpose: To investigate primary physician awareness of the California Breast Density Notification Law and its impact on primary care practice.

Methods: An online survey was distributed to 174 physicians within a single primary care network system 10 months after California's breast density notification law took effect. The survey assessed physicians' awareness of the law, perceived changes in patient levels of concern about breast density, and physician comfort levels in handling breast density management issues.

Segmentation of breast masses on dedicated breast computed tomography and three-dimensional breast ultrasound images.

We present and evaluate a method for the three-dimensional (3-D) segmentation of breast masses on dedicated breast computed tomography (bCT) and automated 3-D breast ultrasound images. The segmentation method, refined from our previous segmentation method for masses on contrast-enhanced bCT, includes two steps: (1) initial contour estimation and (2) active contour-based segmentation to further evolve and refine the initial contour by adding a local energy term to the level-set equation. Segmentation performance was assessed in terms of Dice coefficients (DICE) for 129 lesions on noncontrast bCT, 38 lesions on contrast-enhanced bCT, and 98 lesions on 3-D breast ultrasound (US) images.

Level set segmentation of breast masses in contrast-enhanced dedicated breast CT and evaluation of stopping criteria.

Dedicated breast CT (bCT) produces high-resolution 3D tomographic images of the breast, fully resolving fibroglandular tissue structures within the breast and allowing for breast lesion detection and assessment in 3D. In order to enable quantitative analysis, such as volumetrics, automated lesion segmentation on bCT is highly desirable. In addition, accurate output from CAD (computer-aided detection/diagnosis) methods depends on sufficient segmentation of lesions.

The California breast density information group: a collaborative response to the issues of breast density, breast cancer risk, and breast density notification legislation.

In anticipation of breast density notification legislation in the state of California, which would require notification of women with heterogeneously and extremely dense breast tissue, a working group of breast imagers and breast cancer risk specialists was formed to provide a common response framework. The California Breast Density Information Group identified key elements and implications of the law, researching scientific evidence needed to develop a robust response. In particular, issues of risk associated with dense breast tissue, masking of cancers by dense tissue on mammograms, and the efficacy, benefits, and harms of supplementary screening tests were studied and consensus reached.

Short-term outcomes of screening mammography using computer-aided detection: a population-based study of medicare enrollees.

Background: Computer-aided detection (CAD) has rapidly diffused into screening mammography practice despite limited and conflicting data on its clinical effect.

Objective: To determine associations between CAD use during screening mammography and the incidence of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and invasive breast cancer, invasive cancer stage, and diagnostic testing.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

External validation of Medicare claims codes for digital mammography and computer-aided detection.

Background: While Medicare claims are a potential resource for clinical mammography research or quality monitoring, the validity of key data elements remains uncertain. Claims codes for digital mammography and computer-aided detection (CAD), for example, have not been validated against a credible external reference standard.

Methods: We matched Medicare mammography claims for women who received bilateral mammograms from 2003 to 2006 to corresponding mammography data from the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC) registries in four U.

Anatomical complexity in breast parenchyma and its implications for optimal breast imaging strategies.

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to assess the anatomical noise in breast images using a mathematically derived parameter β as a surrogate for detection performance, across the same patient cohort but in different imaging modalities including mammography, tomosynthesis, and breast CT.

Methods: Women who were scheduled for breast biopsy were approached for participation in this IRB and HIPPA-compliant investigation. A total of 23 women had all views of each modality and represent the cohort studied in this investigation.

The characterization of breast anatomical metrics using dedicated breast CT.

Purpose: Accurate anatomical characterization of the breast is useful in breast phantom development and computer modeling of breast imaging technologies. Capitalizing on the three-dimensional capabilities of dedicated breast CT (bCT), a number of parameters which describe breast shape and fibroglandular distribution are defined.

Methods: Among 219 bCT data sets, the effective diameter and length of the pendant breast as well as the breast volume were measured and characterized for each bra cup size.

Dedicated breast computed tomography: the optimal cross-sectional imaging solution?

Dedicated breast computed tomography (DBCT) is a burgeoning technology that has many advantages over current breast-imaging systems. Three-dimensional visualization of the breast mitigates the limiting effects of superimposition noted with mammography. Postprocessing capabilities will allow application of advanced technologies, such as creation of maximum-intensity projection and subtraction images, and the use of both computer-aided detection and possible computer-aided diagnosis algorithms.

Contrast-enhanced dedicated breast CT: initial clinical experience.

Purpose: To quantify contrast material enhancement of breast lesions scanned with dedicated breast computed tomography (CT) and to compare their conspicuity with that at unenhanced breast CT and mammography.

Materials And Methods: Approval of the institutional review board and the Radiation Use Committee and written informed consent were obtained for this HIPAA-compliant study. Between September 2006 and April 2009, 46 women (mean age, 53.

An X-Ray computed tomography/positron emission tomography system designed specifically for breast imaging.

Mammography has served the population of women who are at-risk for breast cancer well over the past 30 years. While mammography has undergone a number of changes as digital detector technology has advanced, other modalities such as computed tomography have experienced technological sophistication over this same time frame as well. The advent of large field of view flat panel detector systems enable the development of breast CT and several other niche CT applications, which rely on cone beam geometry.

Initial characterization of a dedicated breast PET/CT scanner during human imaging.

Unlabelled: We have constructed a dedicated breast PET/CT scanner capable of high-resolution functional and anatomic imaging. Here, we present an initial characterization of scanner performance during patient imaging.

Methods: The system consisted of a lutetium oxyorthosilicate-based dual-planar head PET camera (crystal size, 3 x 3 x 20 mm) and 768-slice cone-beam CT.

Ultrasonic viscoelasticity imaging of nonpalpable breast tumors: preliminary results.

Rationale And Objectives: Improvements in the diagnosis of early breast cancers depend on a physician's ability to obtain the information necessary to distinguish nonpalpable malignant and benign tumors. Viscoelastic features that describe mechanical properties of tissues may help to distinguish these types of lesions.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-one patients with nonpalpable, pathology-confirmed Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BIRADS) 4 or 5 breast lesions (10 benign, 11 malignant) detected by mammography were studied.

Classification of breast computed tomography data.

Differences in breast tissue composition are important determinants in assessing risk, identifying disease in images and following changes over time. This paper presents an algorithm for tissue classification that separates breast tissue into its three primary constituents of skin, fat and glandular tissue. We have designed and built a dedicated breast CT scanner.

Dedicated breast CT: initial clinical experience.

Purpose: To prospectively and intraindividually compare dedicated breast computed tomographic (CT) images with screen-film mammograms.

Materials And Methods: All patient studies were performed according to protocols approved by the institutional review board and Radiation Use Committee; informed consent was obtained. A breast CT scanner prototype was used to individually scan uncompressed breasts in 10 healthy volunteers (mean age, 52.

Computed tomography for imaging the breast.

Despite the success of screening mammography contributing to the reduction of cancer mortality, a number of other imaging techniques are being studied for breast cancer screening. In our laboratory, a dedicated breast computed tomography (CT) system has been developed and is currently undergoing patient testing. The breast CT system is capable of scanning the breast with the woman lying prone on a tabletop, with the breast in the pendant position.

Breast CT: potential for breast cancer screening and diagnosis.

Although screening mammography has been shown to be effective in reducing breast cancer mortality, a new technique called breast computed tomography (CT) is being studied in the hope that breast cancer can be detected even earlier. A prototype unit has been designed, fabricated and tested at the University of California, Davis, USA, and is currently being used in a Phase II clinical trial to study the feasibility of breast CT for breast cancer detection and diagnosis. A total of 46 volunteers and patients have been imaged, and the breast CT images show impressive anatomical detail of the breast that is not appreciated in mammography.

Computer-aided detection of breast cancer: a cost-effectiveness study.

Purpose: To analyze the cost-effectiveness of adding computer-aided detection (CAD) to a screening mammography program.

Materials And Methods: A Markov model was developed to compare three hypothetical groups of women aged 40-79 years. The first group was composed of women undergoing mammographic screening without CAD; the second, of women undergoing mammographic screening with CAD; and the third, of women undergoing observation without screening.

Technique factors and their relationship to radiation dose in pendant geometry breast CT.

The use of breast computed tomography (CT) as an alternative to mammography in some patients is being studied at several institutions. However, the radiation dosimetry issues associated with breast CT are markedly different than in the case of mammography. In this study, the spectral properties of an operational breast CT scanner were characterized both by physical measurement and computer modeling of the kVp-dependent spectra, from 40 to 110 kVp (Be window W anode with 0.